Rail Link Engineering - General - London, Rail Link Engineering Receives Top Safety Award
Date: 11 Dec 2006
Rail Link Engineering (RLE) has been presented with a British Safety Council Sword of Honour following a ceremony at the historic Goldsmiths' Hall, London. The consortium received the award for its work on the state-of-the-art Temple Mills Depot near Stratford in East London, which will be used by Eurostar trains from November 2007.
RLE, a consortium of Arup, Bechtel, Halcrow and Systra, is the designer and Project Manager for the construction of High Speed 1 (formerly the Channel Tunnel Rail Link), the UK's first high-speed railway.
The 109km line, from the Channel Tunnel to St Pancras International Station in London, remains on schedule and on budget to open fully for commercial services on 14 November 2007.
RLE was one of only 40 organisations worldwide presented with a Sword of Honour, which is widely recognised as the pinnacle of safety achievement.
The Sword of Honour scheme, now in its twenty seventh year, recognises organisations that have implemented safety systems that are among the best in the world. Only organisations that achieve the maximum rating of five stars in the Council's Five Star Health and Safety Management System Audit are eligible to apply. Organisations also have to prove they have a culture of aiming for best practice, promoted from the boardroom to the shop floor. The application form covers key areas of safety activity. All applications are independently adjudicated and standards this year were the highest yet.
In congratulating Rail Link Engineering Mr Ballard, Chief Executive of the British Safety Council, said: "Today we have with us some of the safest companies in the world. Winning a Sword of Honour is a difficult but worthwhile achievement, and because we limit the number of Swords awarded to forty each year worldwide, you can count yourselves as being among a small but very distinguished band". Justin McCracken, Deputy Chief Executive of the HSE, was the guest speaker at the luncheon and he added his congratulations.
A message of congratulations was also sent by Prime Minister Tony Blair, who said: "These awards recognise the crucial success that these organisations and their employees have achieved in their pursuit of excellence in the management of health, safety and environmental matters."
The British Safety Council also reminded the attendees of the announcement made last year in relation to the London 2012 Olympics: as a registered charity, the British Safety Council is keen to play its part in ensuring that the 2012 Olympics are the safest to date, with the legacy of a qualified workforce. The British Safety Council has therefore set aside £2 million to fund the assessment fees for 200,000 workers to take the BSC Awards Level 1 Certificate in Health and Safety at Work, a nationally recognised qualification.
David Ballard, Chief Executive of the British Safety Council (BSC), presenting one of the celebrated Swords of Honour to Rail Link Engineering Temple Mills Depot.
Where do I go now?: » View the latest news items » View the news archive » Subscribe to Weekly Construction Newsletter » Submit news
